Whenever vessels have foundered off the coasts of Britain, there have always been those willing to give their all to save those in peril. But in 1823 Sir William Hillary decided that this admirable but impromptu approach was not enough. He believed that many more lives could be saved by the establishment of a national, organised rescue service and his idea was realised the following year. We read here of the exploits of Harry Blogg of Norfolk, the most decorated life boatman ever and the only one to be awarded three gold medals other than Sir William Hillary himself; the merchant ship spared by a WW2 U-boat 'ace' whose crew were rescued by Paddy Murphy of the County Down Lifeboat later in the war; Lieutenant Parry of the coastguard, the Trafalgar veteran who earned his gold medal rescuing the crew of a French fishing vessel only to be shot during an encounter with smugglers three months later, causing his premature retirement, and Father O'Shea, the Waterford priest who initiated a rescue attempt with a cry of 'Come, boys! Who will help me to man the lifeboat?' And Grace Darling who has a worthy place in any story collection featuring lifeboat heroism. Above all these are human stories using information gleaned from archives, contemporary newspaper accounts and genealogical records. 261pp in large softback, photos.
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